Good morning, and thanks for your continued support of Extra Points.

By the time you read this, I will (probably? I think?) be on the road to Fresno, after five nights in Hawaii. While I admit, I have stolen a little bit of time to hit the beach, go on a few hikes, and enjoy a brightly colored tropical drink or two, I’ve also spent the last several days interviewing multiple coaches, administrators, boosters and fans of Hawaii athletics.

I’ve got a few more stories related to the program that will run in a week or so…about travel, about men’s volleyball, and potentially a few other angles, but as I sit here in my hotel, going over my transcripts and notes from the last few days, I’m struck by another question I want to walk out a bit on the page…

Just how good could this athletic department actually be, especially as it transitions into the Mountain West as a full member? Is it possible us national media types or casual mainland observers may be getting some things wrong?

Let’s start with the obvious. Let’s talk geography.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa does not have travel partners. There are no bus trips, no crosstown rivals. Every single game in every single sport is a road trip.

It’s at least a five-hour flight from virtually anywhere on the mainland. Flights to other important Mountain West Conference airports will stretch to six, seven, eight hours, or so, not counting any layovers. Plus, Mountain Standard Time is four hours ahead of Hawaii, so any intercollegiate travel is going to do a number on the ol’ body clock.

But that geographical isolation isn’t just a factor when it comes to road trip travel time. For the past several years, Hawaii has needed to pay a travel subsidy every time a conference opponent (in the MWC or Big West) flew to the Islands to compete…and still had to pay guarantees to attract non-conference opponents in other sports. Even though the subsidy system is going away as the ‘Bows transition to MWC full membership, those game expenses have sapped athletic department resources away from other investment opportunities.

Plus, being so dang far away from the rest of the United States can just make stuff more complicated, as well as more expensive. Staffers will have to keep unconventional hours as they talk to conference peers, business partners and vendors back on the mainland. Most of the staggering amount of stuff that an athletic department goes through, from protein shakes to socks, athletic tape to swim caps, all has to get flown or shipped to campus, driving up the costs of many goods and services. And recruiting talent…be it athletic or administrator talent, can be harder, since home will suddenly be much further away. Not everybody wants to live 4,000 miles from Mom and Dad, you know?

So the challenges of the geography are well known. But there are also potential opportunities here…opportunities beyond the obvious, come play and work in the literal Garden of Eden, seriously this is a paradise why on earth would you want to live somewhere where the air hurts your face when you could be in HAWAII.

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